Reaction to 89th consecutive victory for UConn women's basketball

David Butler II/US PresswireThe Connecticut women's basketball team won its 89th consecutive game Tuesday, and coach Geno Auriemma received a phone call from Barack Obama during his postgame press conference.

The UConn women's basketball team won its 89th consecutive game Tuesday night, a mark unmatched in Division 1 by a men's or women's basketball team. In the lead up to Tuesday's game -- a 92-63 victory over Florida State -- opinions about the streak and women's athletics came to the fore. Now that UConn has surpassed UCLA, a look at reaction from around the country.

Harvey Araton, New York Times: Araton looks at the rivalry between UConn and Tennessee, which has dissolved since they last played during the 2006-07 season. The UConn streak is outstanding, Araton argues, a testament to prolonged greatness, but the sport of women's basketball has suffered since the two powers of the sport went their separate ways.

Bill Plaschke, Los Angeles Times: The L.A. Times sports columnist argues we should not compare the achievement of UConn's women to that of UCLA's men, which won 88 consecutive games. Those comparisons are futile, he says, and they devalue what UConn has accomplished. Instead, we must honor and appreciate UConn as something different altogether.

Cindy Boren, Washington Post: The player most associated with UConn's streak is Maya Moore, the two-time NCAA player of the year (soon to be three, it seems) who scored a career-high 41 points on Tuesday. Moore, whose father, Mike Dabney, played basketball at Rutgers, is now 125-2 as a collegian.

Don Amore, Hartford Courant: Greg Wooden, the grandson of legendary UCLA coach John who presided over the Bruins' streak, attended UConn's game Tuesday night. Greg Wooden said he grandfather would have been pleased with what he saw.